Vandals cause $3,000 damage at company

April 10, 1996

Vandals broke into an Odenton business around 10 p.m. Saturday and caused about $3,000 damage, county police said.

Officers went to the Atlas Container Corp. in the 8100 block of Telegraph Road after an alarm sounded, but were unable to investigate because fences surrounded the building. Police returned shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday after building manager Donald Fleelge called to report the damage.

He told police the vandals used a sledgehammer to open vending machines and drove a forklift from the loading dock to nearby railroad tracks.

A second forklift was used to push items from the dock onto the tracks and to punch holes through a brick wall, police said.

A third forklift was driven into a machinery room, where it damaged the vacuum system. The vandals also knocked down a railing and scattered computer equipment, police said.

The vandals took a bicycle from the business and rode away, leaving a trail of candy wrappers to Jacobs Road and Pioneer Drive. Police did not find the vandals.